Three Rivers. Three Creeks.

Transcription

1 01 Cluster Area Management Community Day Koala Population Research Wild Dog Mapping Ecosystem Health Check Landholder Property Mapping Farming Scholar Visit Feral Pig Management Trials Cost Effective Pig Trapping Trials Feral Pig Baiting Programme EIO - Feral Pig Controls South West NRM Three Rivers. Three Creeks. Contact Us ABOVE: Forum Members who attended the gathering at Adavale, relaxed on Carolyn and Andrew Landsberg s homestead verandah at Bulls Gully. Programme Manager, Craig Alison (centre with butcher s paper) maps out the logistics of Cluster Area Management. Forum Members chew the fat over Cluster Area Management Cluster Area Management was the hottest topic of the day at the latest series of Forum Members meetings organised by South West Natural Resource Management. South West NRM recently rolled out a series of 8 meetings around the region with over 100 members, land managers and general community in attendance. A further meeting is planned for the near future for the lower Bulloo region as the Thargomindah meeting had to be postponed. South West NRM s CEO, Neil Judd said the Cluster Area Management concept is one of the most exciting projects that I have been involved with over the last twenty years. The ability to work with motivated land managers on a holistic suite of actions to improve business and environmental health at the same time is quite rare. The concept of Cluster Area Management emerged during discussions to identify an appropriate package that offered potential to help people simultaneously increase their profitability and productivity and improve landscape health. Continues page 2 Charleville Office 66 Galatea Street Charleville QLD 4470 PH: FAX: admin@swnrm.org.au Quilpie Office 3 Buln Buln Street Quilpie QLD 4480 PH: quilpie@swnrm.org.au Bollon Office George Street Bollon QLD 4488 PH: bollon@swnrm.org.au Cunnamulla Office 26 Stockyard Street Cunnamulla PH: cunnamulla@swnrm.org.au 01

2 02 Forum Members chew the fat over Cluster Area Management Continued from page 1 The initiative involves building consensus from a group of land managers in a geographic area, or cluster, for control of total grazing pressure, total pest pressure, control of weed presence, and examination of options to improve land condition and overall biodiversity values in the cluster. While participants in this voluntary collaboration could potentially secure environmental values and increase biodiversity, they also could stand to reap the private benefit of improved productivity and profitability by collaboratively managing animal and plant pests. South West NRM s Resource Economist, Jon Grant said, The core focus of this project is the collaboration of multiple properties to essentially create a holistic management strategy. Through the control of total grazing pressure, the area in its entirety receives the benefit, with reduced costs through economies of scale. Owner of Victoria Downs station, Will Roberts said, The biggest thing at the moment with the wild dogs is that we win the battles but not the war. With this proposal we believe we can win the war. From that point of view, we can go on to achieve better environmental outcomes. Land owners are aware that it will be up to participants to resolve any issues in much the same way as a Body Corporate or Owners Corporation would operate. This would be essential to ensure long term repair and replacement issues for cooperative infrastructure are taken care of as well as continued effort in pest and weed control and monitoring for biodiversity values within the potential cluster. 1 Property (30,000ha 70km boundary) 20km 15km 2 Properties (60,000ha 110km boundary) 40km 15km 12 Properties (360,000ha 240km boundary) ABOVE: Examples of how economy of scale would work in this initiative is demonstrated for fencing the outside boundary of the cluster of properties. 60km 60km Owner of Gumbardo station, Rob Rennick said, It will be a good idea if it works. When you ve got a group of people you only need one weak link. Property owner of Banff Downs, Tim Williams said, I m very much in favour of getting people together over a large area to achieve common goals for sustainable agriculture and biodiversity. It s good to be part of the initiative, particularly at the beginning to get it off the ground. There is a long way to go yet, but it seems to be jelling quite well at this stage, with people wanting to work together to achieve common goals. Mr Judd told the member meetings that regardless of whether or not the government provides funding, South West NRM has enough money in kitty to establish a small number of trial Cluster Area Management projects. The Board of South West NRM will meet to discuss interest in the concept and to make the go or no go decision on the project. Subject to the Board deliberations all members of the south west regional community will be advised of the next steps as soon as possible. 02

3 03 Community day of fun and learning Carp traps prove a hit at the Community Day held at Murra Murra Homestead on the banks of Nebine Creek, 150k southeast of Cunnamulla by road. The Community Day hosted by Kooma Traditional Owners Association Inc., Engineers Without Borders and Melbourne Water was held on Saturday October 27. It was very pleasing to see a range of family, friends and neighbours involved in a fun and informative day, said Keiran Croker who is a member of Engineers Without Borders and works for Melbourne Water. The highlight of the day was checking the carp traps installed by South West Natural Resource Management earlier in the week, Mr Croker said. South West NRM CEO, Neil Judd said, The organisation has greatly appreciated and enjoyed its long relationship with the Kooma Traditional Owners. Together we have worked on a number of projects aimed at improving the natural resources of the Kooma people s traditional lands. In response to discussions with the Treasurer of the Kooma Traditional Owner Association, Cheryl Buchanan, South West NRM installed the two carp traps in waterholes at Murra Murra. CARP HAUL: Children learn about the fish in their waterhole near the Murra Murra Homestead while checking the carp traps during Community Day. The traps removed more than one hundred carp and other pest fish from the Nebine Creek. Several native fish, including golden perch and bony bream, as well as native turtles were also recorded and immediately returned to the waterway. This catch, along with fish surveys undertaken at nine sites in July by Melbourne Water, indicates the creek throughout Murra Murra is in relatively good condition. Kooma Traditional Owner, Ranger Geoff Drury said, I thought those carp traps looked a bit fishy, but to my surprise they worked a treat! It was great to see everyone, especially the kids learn more about what lives in our waterhole. WHICH PIECE GOES WHERE? From left, Acquatic Scientist from Melbourne Water, Rhys Coleman assists Hayley Bannerman from South West NRM construct the carp traps on the banks of the Nebine. Other activities that entertained the children (and some adults) on the day included an interactive display of aquatic bugs captured from the creek and nearby Brumby Lake and a frog call quiz of local species. 03

4 04 Filling the research gap on koalas South West NRM supports research into koala populations and habits in the state s south west. Little was known about Queensland s south western koala populations as the majority of koala research has been conducted in the eastern parts of the state. To address this knowledge gap, South West NRM entered into a three year partnership in 2008 with the University of Queensland s Landscape Ecology and Conservation Group, the Australian Koala Foundation and the Department of Environment and Climate Change NSW to research and understand koala populations and how they use the region s diverse landscape. The most concerning finding of the research project was the estimated 80% decline in koala numbers across the study region. The estimated drop in the mean population went from 60,000 in 1995 to approximately 11,000 in Researchers attribute the main causes of the decline to drought and heatwaves as well as past clearing of habitat. Other threats that have yet to be quantified include predation by wild dogs and disease. South West NRM s CEO, Neil Judd said, Land managers and members of the community across the region are very concerned about the serious decline in the koala population. There is a widely held belief that a combination of drought and a marked increase in predation by wild dogs are contributing factors. Although it is recognised in the region that while land clearing is identified as a contributing factor to koala population decline in other regions, land clearing has not occurred across many catchments in south west Queensland where catastrophic population declines have occurred. The Bulloo, Paroo, and Warrego catchments in particular are evidence of this, Mr Judd said. CEO of the Australian Koala Foundation, Deborah Tabart OAM said, Although the AKF funded the original research in 1995, I personally have never believed that 60,000 was the correct number of koalas and this project has now identified the low numbers of koalas in the area. One of the real benefits of this project has been the identification of wild dogs as a significant factor in declines. If you look at the dogs killed or trapped, they match this research area exactly. Now it is time for management of that problem and hopefully we can see a return of the koala to the area. The two main financial contributors to the research project were South West NRM and the Australian Koala Foundation, both contributing $80,000 each. In-kind support was provided by the Office of Environment and Heritage NSW and the University of Queensland s Landscape Ecology and Conservation Group conducted the research component of the project. The industry/ research linkage attracted an additional $10,000 from the Australian Research Council. BELOW: Wild dog map provided by Australian Koala Foundation 04

5 05 Regional Mapping - routing out wild dogs South West Natural Resource Management provides mapping and technical support to local councils, community groups and landholders in ongoing efforts to reduce the region s wild dog population. GIS Officer at South West NRM, Daniel Wingett said, The impact that wild dogs hunting in packs have had on the sheep industry is catastrophic with severe pressure showing on lambing percentages and ewe losses throughout the region. In many instances the impact on business profitability has also been devastating. The loss of much of the region s sheep and wool has affected the socio-economic wellbeing of our whole community. The money that shearing and crutching contractors once spent locally at supermarkets, motels and pubs is sorely missed now that those workers have left to find work elsewhere, Mr Wingett said. South West NRM has been offering wild dog control mapping services free-of-charge to all interested Wild Dog Advisory Groups in all council areas in the South West NRM area. We are currently working with the Murweh, Maranoa, Quilpie, Bulloo, Paroo, Balonne and Blackall Tambo Regional Councils and Wild Dog Advisory Groups, Mr Wingett said. South West NRM has provided each of the Wild Dog Advisory Groups with a map of their area so their syndicate can mark where wild dog activity has occurred and to indicate the severity of their damage. The organisation has provided financial assistance to local shire councils and Wild Dog Advisory Groups to conduct aerial and on-ground baiting programmes primarily focussing on pigs, though the baits were also taken by wild dogs, foxes and feral cats. The money was also used to mentor up-andcoming trappers, provide animal pest and trapping workshops and coordinate aerial shoots. South West NRM s Programme Manager, Craig Alison said, South West NRM has been successful in attracting further funding from the Queensland and Australian government s Caring for Our Country funding programme. Plans are already in place to work with individual landholders, landholder groups and all local governments in the region. We are using area management planning processes to hit vertebrate pests hard. All tools in the tool box will be employed, Mr Alison said. Anyone interested in finding out more about South West NRM s mapping programmes for controlling wild dog pests or funding programmes may contact: Daniel Wingett 66 Galatea Street Charleville QLD 4470 Ph: Mob: Craig Alison 3 Buln Buln Street Quilpie QLD 4480 Ph: Mob: We import this data as well as GPS logger data from local dog trappers and shire maps to show the distribution of this feral pest. The data logger captures where wild dogs have been trapped, shot, sighted, stock killed and dens found, Mr Wingett said. By collating this data, organisers can be more focussed with their control programmes and concentrate efforts on identified target areas. Trappers have a better idea of where there is known dog activity and aerial and ground baiting can be coordinated more efficiently and cost effectively. WILD DOG MAPPING: South West Natural Resource Management is offering free mapping of wild dog activity in the region to assist with control programmes. Since January 2011 South West NRM has spent approximately $250,000 on vertebrate pest control in south west Queensland. 05

6 06 Ecosystem health check South West Natural Resource Management s Ric Newson works with state government to up-skill in ecosystem health monitoring processes. Mr Newson is working towards obtaining formal accreditation for the work he is doing on the Stream and Estuary Assessment Program, which is a collaborative research project between state government departments being conducted across Queensland. The current round includes the Warrego, Paroo, Bulloo and Nebine catchments and complements the Murray Darling Basin Authority s Sustainable Rivers Audit and Water Resource Plan and the Water Quality Management strategy. The aim of the programme is to monitor and assess the ecological condition of Queensland s waterways to help guide natural resource management. LOOKING GOOD: Ric Newson and Alisha Steward check samples taken from the Warrego River for macro invertebrates. Scientist Alisha Steward, from the Department of Information Technology, Innovation and the Arts, said, It s a good opportunity to train South West NRM staff in the standard collecting methods in macro invertebrate sampling and analysis as this ensures information can be exchanged between state government departments and South West NRM. It also means we can supplement each other s knowledge. Mr Newson said, This will complement other activities that South West NRM already does, such as electro-fishing and trapping. The objective of the project is to measure the health of the riverine ecosystem of the four catchments. There s a gradient of sensitivity in family groups of macro invertebrates. The more diversity of sensitive groups the more indicative of better ecological condition of the river system, said Acting Principal Scientist, Glenn McGregor. DRYING OUT: (from left) Scientists Tess Mullins from the Department of Natural Resources and Mines and Joanna Blessing and Glenn McGregor from the Department of Information Technology, Innovation and the Arts, lay nets out to dry. The morning s haul included 1 carp, 8 Golden Perch, 1 Bony Bream and 1 very large long-necked turtle. A report of the findings of this project will be published online in

7 07 Property Mapping assists decision-making South West Natural Resource Management provides landholders and property managers in south west Queensland with complimentary mapping packages of their properties to assist with key decision-making. These packages can assist with decisions relating to carrying capacity, economic return on investment, infrastructural changes and other decisions that relate to profitability and day-to-day running. South West NRM has mapped more than 120 properties so far, covering a total area of more than 3 million hectares. The packages currently contain five maps: the Regional Location Map is designed to provide an overview of the property location within the region, and shows major roads, rivers, towns and other identifying features along with the outline of the property. the Infrastructure Map shows a closer crop, with key infrastructure such as fence lines, tracks, bores and other related features. the Satellite Map is almost identical to the infrastructure map, but is built upon satellite imagery rather than cadastral data to assist in on-ground identification of features. the Regional Ecosystems Map shows the latest version of regional ecosystem classifications on the property, and is supported by labels for each zone as well as accompanying information sheets, and the Land Zones Map shows data derived from Western Arid Region Land Use Study (WARLUS) and can be useful in supporting funding applications or determining carrying capacity. All packages come with a guide to understanding soils, as well as land resource information for land types commonly found in the region. There is also a mapping request form should the landholder or property manager require additional mapping. To request a complimentary mapping package for your property, or for more information, contact: Daniel Wingett 66 Galatea Street Charleville QLD 4470 Ph: Mob: gis@swnrm.org.au MAPPING PACKAGES: This Land Zones Map is one of the five complimentary maps South West NRM is providing to landholders and managers. This one can be used to support funding applications or to determine a property s carrying capacity. 07

8 08 Farming scholars visit South West NRM Australian and international Nuffield farming scholars visit South West NRM s head office at Charleville as part of their tour of western Queensland. South West NRM CEO, Neil Judd said, I appreciated the opportunity to discuss issues impacting on grazing businesses and the natural resources of south west Queensland with such a distinguished group. South West NRM s Industry Sector Director, Michael McKellar was a 2004 Nuffield Scholar and is also a member of the Nuffield Alumni. Mr McKellar hosted the group during their visit to Charleville. SHARING KNOWLEDGE: South West NRM s Industry Sector Director, Michael McKellar (standing at left) introduces visiting Nuffield Scholars to South West NRM s CEO Neil Judd (standing at right). Mr Judd discussed issues relevant to south west Queensland grazing and natural resource management with the group. Nuffield is an amazing experience for those who choose to invest sixteen weeks in research pertaining to their agricultural business, Mr McKellar said. The objective of Nuffield is to influence policy makers and advance agriculture. More importantly, as a scholar, you become part of a worldwide network of farmers using world Pigging Out South West Natural Resource Management collaborates with landowners in the Warrego and Paroo river areas to trial feral pig management options. Three trial sites have been set up at Glentuckie, Wallen and Rosscoe Downs properties. The trials involve the use of HogHoppers, which are food dispensing units, recently developed by the Cooperative Research Centre with financial support and assistance from the Australian Government. The main benefits of using HogHoppers is their capacity to be adequately stocked so that they don t require daily checking and best practice, he said. After Nuffield Scholars present their research to Alumni and sponsors, their findings are published on the Nuffield website and made freely available to other researchers. Among the visitors to Charleville was the CEO of Nuffield Australia, a rice farmer from their design, which prevents native wildlife from accessing the bait. Cunnamulla District NRM Coordinator, Victoria Haig said, Currently, the control of feral pig numbers is challenging the resources of land managers. The increased numbers of pigs are showing extensive damage to waterholes, biodiversity and pastures through digging and wallowing. Pigs will be pre-fed until they become accustomed to the units. Once their numbers increase around the food sources, trials on different baits will go ahead. The three baits Swan Hill in Victoria, an ex-zimbabwean farmer who now lives in Western Australia and a farmer from Alice Springs. Their tour of south west Queensland also took in Drillham, Jericho and Longreach. For more information about Nuffield Australia Farming Scholars go to selected for trial are grain with 1080, meat with 1080 and PIGOUT. Motion sensitive cameras with night vision capabilities will be used to monitor the effectiveness of the different sites and baits. If land managers agree, pre-feeding stations may also be used at trapping sites to explore options where the use of 1080 is not welcomed, such as under organic systems. South West NRM is confident the trials will provide land managers with guidance about suitable control methodologies for a range of property circumstances, Victoria said. FOOD DISPENSER: Feral pigs have sufficient snout strength to push the trapdoor open, whereas native animals cannot access the bait. CHOW TIME: This HogHopper is located on Glentuckie property at a known pig hotspot. 08

9 09 Pigs lured to test sites South West Natural Resource Management targets feral pigs in cost effective trapping trials. If all goes to plan this control strategy will offer an alternative to other more expensive options, such as ground baiting and shootingfrom-air programmes. South West NRM GIS and Mapping Officer, Daniel Wingett has been co-ordinating the project in the Charleville area in consultation with landowners who agreed to host the trials. The trials went for a little over one month, beginning in early October and wrapping up in November. Properties that hosted the trial sites were Spring Hill and Lesdale. These properties were selected because of their known pig activity and proximity to Charleville. Staff at the Charleville office of South West NRM were responsible for daily monitoring and recording the findings of the two trial sites set up at each property. SMELLY SMORGASBORD: Coordinator of the pig pre-feeding project, Daniel Wingett helps landowner, Tom Manns set out a quadrant of 16 x 2kg feed spots deposited at 2m intervals. This spread maximises access to the food by large numbers of pigs. The gastronomic fare is grain that has been soaked in water for 3-5 days to make it smell putrid just the way pigs like it! The pre-feeding bait that was trialled was a brew of grain soaked in water for three to five days. The fermented grain was laid out in a grid pattern of 4 x 4 two kilo piles, spaced two metres apart. Motion sensitive cameras with night vision capabilities were set up around the sites to capture any activity. Mr Wingett said, No poison was used during the trialling stage. First we needed to collect data on how effective the brew would be in attracting feral pigs and also if non-target animals would come to eat the food. The video footage showed that although feral pigs are opportunistic omnivores, they take a while to adapt to new food types. Seven days into the trial a small pig was recorded showing a curious interest in the grain, but not eating any of it. As a last ditch effort, Mr Wingett decided to increase the amount of grain on each pile. After that initial period of one and a half weeks of no activity, five pigs moved in and cleaned up the food we put out for them. This told us that using larger piles helped attract the pigs, probably because it didn t dry out so quickly, allowing the smell of the fermented grain to waft a little longer, Mr Wingett said. Results were the same at both sites. It took around a week and a half to draw pigs in and...and THIS LITTLE PIGGY: Motion sensitive cameras with night vision capabilities capture activity around the trial sites. the bigger piles of food were more effective. Unfortunately cameras also detected interest in the fermented grain by other animals including cattle, ducks and crows. This showed us the bait was not target specific, so we decided to continue using the fermented grain as the attractant, but also to incorporate the use of traps to contain pigs so they could then be eliminated, Mr Wingett said. A final observation was that pigs move on very quickly once the food source runs out. Traps should be stocked with food each night then when the required number of pigs come in, the traps should be set to trip. The captured pigs should be eliminated the following morning and traps reset over the next couple of nights to ensure capture and elimination of any that might have been left behind, Mr Wingett said. 09

10 10 Feral Pig Baiting Programme on track South West Natural Resource Management collaborates with regional landholders, wild dog committee members and local governments to deliver ongoing programmes to reduce feral pest numbers across south west Queensland. Queensland s south west region is benefitting from a $220,000 coordinated pig baiting programme across 4.6 million hectares, thanks to South West NRM s successful applications in the last round of Caring for Our Country open call funding submissions to the state and federal governments. The breakdown of funding allocations South West NRM has distributed across the seven shires is as follows: Balonne - $10,000 for 170,394 hectares (11 properties) Blackall Tambo - $10,000 for 112,397 hectares (10 properties) Bulloo - $40,000 for 2,541,333 hectares (23 properties) Maranoa - $10,000 for 396,219 hectares (29 properties) Murweh - $40,000 for 587,103 hectares Paroo - $60,000 for 1.125,632 hectares Quilpie - $50,000 for 1,242,476 hectares (29 properties) The Quilpie Shire is the first cab off the rank in the programme roll-out. Quilpie Shire Wild Dog Committee Chair, Stephen Tully said, The grant that South West NRM obtained from the government has enabled more people to participate in the programme as the money has been used to subsidise the baits. The pig baiting was conducted in conjunction with wild dog baiting across the majority of the Quilpie shire. We had perfect dry conditions for baiting so all the evidence we have is showing the eradication programme went very well, but because pig numbers are so high it is going to take more sustained action over a longer period of time, Mr Tully said. Like other farmers Mr Tully has suffered significant lambing losses because of pig predation. Since March this year we have shot over 500 pigs on our property Bunginderry alone, Mr Tully said. Land Manager at Cowley Station near Quilpie, Mr Ian Feather said, The pig baiting seems to be gathering momentum. People are seeing the damage pigs are causing. There s nothing worse than going out checking your ewes and seeing them standing there, after spending the last hour giving birth, waiting for their lambs to get up. Of course there is no chance of that as the pig has turned it inside-out, he said. By doing the pig baiting, we re also getting rid of the feral cats and wild dogs as well. Feral animals are getting on top of us. We re down to 50% on our lambing compared to previous years of 80%. This has been due to wild dogs that are also eating adult sheep and the pigs cleaning up the lambs as quickly as they hit the ground, Mr Feather said. With the pig baiting programme we are seeing first-hand, a lot of kills with the higher numbers of ferals that are around at the moment, taking the baits, Mr Feather said. South West NRM Programme Manager, Craig Alison said, With delivering the successes of this programme across the 7 shires for our reporting obligations and from further support from our investment bodies, such as Caring for Our Country, we hope that the pig baiting programme that has been implemented will be supported for further works. 10

11 11 Expression of Interest Feral pig control through pre-feeding and trapping As a result of successful funding applications in the last round of Caring for Our Country open call submissions, South West NRM would like to invite interested land managers to submit an expression of interest for assistance with implementing a simple pre-feed baiting regime for feral pigs using fermented grain. It is anticipated that interested land managers will work with South West NRM and local council RLO officers to deliver on ground activities using pre-feed grain, to reduce the impact of feral pigs at key waterholes and riparian areas within the region. The design and delivery of how land managers build pre-feeding stations is entirely at the discretion of the landholder, however it will be expected that the on-ground works will be aligned to best practice methods. For example, the project can be a simple 10 station baiting system with 2kg pre-feeds at predetermined locations using either a pathway pattern along a riparian area, or in a grid system pattern in a wetland zone. South West NRM will be developing this opportunity from November 2012 with the intention of implementing on-ground activities for feral pig mitigation soon after. The landholder s contribution will be to build and monitor the pre-feeding stations and/or pig traps and to record how many pigs are captured in each area on either a weekly or monthly basis. Please contact your local South West NRM district officer to find out more or to register your interest in becoming involved. 11

12 Please complete and return to: South West NRM Ltd PO Box 630, CHARLEVILLE QLD 4470 FAX: (07) South West NRM Membership Call us on (07) if you have any queries I (name) Of (address) Postcode address Phone Fax Apply for membership of South West NRM Ltd I live in the Catchment of: Bulloo Nebine/Mungallala Paroo Warrego Outside, but with a strong interest in region (please nominate a catchment or whole region): My membership sector is (tick one only): Local Government Industry Aboriginal Conservation Community/Landcare Payment is by way of: Payment of $11.00 (eleven dollars) GST incl. for membership Cheque: Made payable to South West NRM Ltd. Direct Debit: South West NRM Ltd. BSB: Acc: Cash: Made in person at any of South West NRM office Signature Office use only Date received Details entered on database Payment of membership fee Date receipt sent Date Please send receipt